Automatic dish washing machine

ABSTRACT

The specification discloses an automatic dish washing machine having a washing chamber of approximately rectangular cross section closable by means of a door, a circulating pump and heating means for the water to be sprayed into the washing chamber. The circulating pump is disposed next to the washing chamber on the side remote from the door and in the washing chamber two nozzle tubes lying parallel to one another and pivotable about their longitudinal axes are connected via pipes to the circulating pump and are, further, accommodated via links to a driving unit disposed outside the washing chamber. One pipe is disposed in the washing chamber near the top, or bottom, and the other at about mid height of the chamber. Fixed nozzle pipes can also be included in the washing chamber.

United States Patent 1 Raiser AUTOMATIC DISH WASHING MACHINE Walter Raiser, Lange-Gasse 24, Basel, Switzerland June 14, 1971 [76] Inventor:

Filed:

Appl. No.:

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. 20, 1971 Germany ..P 21 02 572.9

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Elkington 134/1 81 l-lollister Delapena Timmer et al. ..239/242 X 463,720 11/1968 Switzerland ..l34/18l [451 March 6, 1973 1,019,278 2/1966 Great Britain ..134/l80 1,492,249 7/1967 France ..134/181 Primary ExaminerM. Henson Wood, Jr. Assistant Examiner-Michael Mar Att0rneyJefiers and Rickert [57] ABSTRACT The specification discloses an automatic dish washing machine having a washing chamber of approximately rectangular cross section closable by means of a door,

a circulating pump and heating means for the water to be sprayed into the washing chamber. The circulating pump is disposed next to the washing chamber on the side remote from the door and in the washing chamber two nozzle tubes lying parallel to one another and pivotable about their longitudinal axes are connected via pipes to the circulating pump and are, further, accommodated via links to a driving unit disposed outside the washing chamber. One pipe is disposed in the washing chamber near the top, or bottom, and the other at about mid height of the chamber. Fixed nozzle pipes can also be included in the washing chamber.

7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED $975 SHEET 10F 6 PATENTED 6 I975 SHEET t 0F 6 PATENTEDHAR a ma SHEET 5 OF 6 F lg. 5

AUTOMATIC DISH WASHING MACHINE Dish washing machines of the automatic type are well known and, generally, operate more or less satisfactorily. The drawback exists, however, that such machines are usually quite expensive and are quite bulky, and that operating auxiliaries mounted under the bottom wall usually restricts the useful space inside the machine.

Furthermore, such machines normally have rotating supply pipes and the like which add to the expense and which require clear space for the operation thereof.

With the foregoing in mind, a primary objective of the present invention is the provision of an automatic dish washing machine in which the foregoing drawbacks are eliminated.

Another object is the provision of an automatic dish washing machine which, within the overall limits, has a washing chamber of maximum size.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of an automatic dish washing machine in which rotary spray heads are eliminated, and wherein the cycle can be adjusted to accommodate different circumstances.

The foregoing objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following detailed specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of one modification of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view thereof with the doors open;

FIG. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on line III-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a section similar to FIG. 3 and indicated by line IVIV on FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section through a modified arrangement; and

FIG. 6 is an elevational view looking at one side of the FIG. 5 modification.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The machine according to the present invention is a front opening type dish washer in which maximum chamber heighth internally is realized by mounting the circulating pump behind the back wall of the washing machine. This disposes the bottom wall of the chamber low enough that large dinner plates can be arranged vertically therein, thus effecting maximum utilization of the space.

The heighth of the washing chamber can amount to 45 to 50 centimeters, and this leaves ample space above large dinner plates to receive a further basket or tray.

According to the invention, spray pipes are distributed in the washing chamber, and certain ones thereof are arranged to oscillate to distribute the spray throughout the washing chamber.

The invention provides an arrangement for cutting off the flow to certain ones of the spray pipes to increase the flow to the others thereof which permits treatment of particularly heavily soiled dishes or pans. Further, the arrangement provides for cutting off a lower spray pipe, while permitting an upper spray pipe to be supplied to obtain improved rinsing of the articles being washed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The automatic washing machine shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 of the drawings has a rectangular housing indicated as whole at 2 and which-consists of a floor 2a, a top 2b, a rear wall 20, a front wall 2d, side walls 2e and 2f as well as a door 2g, capable of being hinged down and provided with a handle 2h. The floor of the washing chamber 12, of approximately rectangular cross section, is formed by a trough 3, the front edge 3a of which is drawn up as far as the upper edge of the front wall 2d and the rear edge 3b of which is drawn up as far as the height of a nozzle pipe 4.

Noule pipe 4 is provided with spray nozzles 4a and is disposed horizontally and in fact parallel to door 2g and is located a little above half the height of the washing chamber 12. Just directly below the top 2b there is a second nozzle pipe 5 provided with spraying nozzles 5a. Pipe 5 is mounted parallel to pipe 4.

The two nozzles pipes, 4 and 5, are each pivotable about their longitudinal axes. For this purpose the pipe 4 is mounted on a pin 6 which is rotatably connected to the two-armed lever 7 via a bolt 8 guided through the side wall 30 of the trough 3. Pipe 5, similarly, has a pin 10 and a lever 11 fixed to the pin.

A link 41 connects the lever 7 of the nozzle pipe 4 and the lever 11 of the nozzle pipe 5, and a further link 13 connects the lever 7 to a crank 16 of a driving motor 17 located under the washing chamber 12. The two ends of the nozzle pipes 4 and 5 remote from the pins 6 and 10, respectively, rotatable but sealingly engage the ends of spray water pipes 18 and 19 which, in their turn, serve to connect the outlet 21 of a circulating pump 22 driven by a motor 20 to the two nozzle pipes 4 and 5.

The length of the levers 7 and 11, as well as of the crank 16, are so adapted to one another that upon rotation of crank 16, the nozzle pipes are pivoted to and fro around their longitudinal axes such that the washing water, led to them by the circulating pump 22 and emerging from the spraying nozzles 4a and 5a in the form of sharp jets, can reach all regions of the washing chamber so that there is no dead water-free angle.

As can be seen particularly well from FIG. 3, the circulating pump 22 and the motor 20 are located next to the washing chamber 12 on the side thereof remote from the door 2g. Because of this, it is possible to form the washing chamber 12 such that it extends substantially the full height of the machine and, therefore, may

- be to centimeters high. Only a height of about 50 to 52 centimeters is required for the entire machine.

Furthermore, it is possible in this way for the washing chamber 12 to extend over substantially the entire width of the machine, which is a considerable advantage for the housewife. As can be seen from the drawings, with a washing machine height of about 47 centimeters,.it is possible to obtain at the washing chamber floor a total depth of about 26 centimeters so that in the lower part there is room for the insertion of extra large dinner plates 23 in a rack 24.

In the upper part of the washing chamber, there is located, as is generally known in dish washing machines, a basket for dishes and glasses 25 which is supported by wheels or rollers 26 on fore and aft guide rails 27.

On the floor of the trough 3 there is located an electric heating coil 31, and adjacent thereto is disposed the mouth of a suction pipe 29 leading to the suction side of pump 22 and protected by a screen 28. Mechanism 30, located under the trough 3, serves for draining off the water. The influx of the water takes place via a water inlet valve 33 and a hose connected thereto, while the quantity of water supplied is controlled by a level regulator 34.

Since, on the one hand, by means of the simple nozzle tube construction according to the present invention, the manufacturing costs can be kept low and, since, on the other hand, the arrangement of the nozzle tubes and the circulating pump give substantial advantages in respect of the utilization of space so that the machine, even with the smallest outer dimensions, has an extraordinarily roomy washing chamber, with a comparatively simple construction, a substantial technical progress is achieved.

Nevertheless, the machine according to the present invention conforms in various constructional details with conventional machines. Thus, there are located on the front wall 2d two controlled lamps 35 and a program switch button 36 which serves for operating a time and program switch 37.

A safety switch 38, actuated upon opening the door 2g, immediately stops the circulating pump 22. A receptacle 39 serves for receiving and delivering a treatment agent, such as a rinsing agent, and a receptacle 40 serves for receiving and delivering a washing medium, such as a detergent.

In the modification of FIGS. and 6, the housing 51 of the dish washing machine is indicated as a top and is provided with a door 52 capable of being hinged down. Inside the housing 51, the washing machine has an upper dish basket 53 and a lower dish basket 54. The upper dish basket 53 has on both sides a roller 53a which lies on a rail 55 attached to the housing wall. On the door side there is attached to both walls of the housing 51 a roller 55b on which the rails 53b of the basket 53 rest.

The lower dish basket 54 has two pairs of rollers 54a and 54b and one roller of each lies on a rail 56 disposed on the wall of the housing 51. This lower dish basket 54 is equipped with a holding grating, or basket, 57 for cutlery and other small articles and with a holding grating, or rack, 58 for plates, etc. Furthermore, the door 52 has, at the edges, rails 520 which, when the door is hinged out, serves as a continuation of the rails 56.

Floor 59 of the washing chamber is inclined downwardly toward the back in order to lead the water to a discharge tube 60 provided with a valve 42. In the top of the washing chamber, three nozzle tubes 66, 67 and 68 are immoveably arranged, while at about half the height of the washing chamber, and just above floor 59, are disposed pivotable nozzle tubes 61 and 62, respectively.

These two pivotable nozzle tubes are each provided with a pivot arm 63 and 64, respectively, and connected via a link 45 and 46, respectively, to the driving arm 65 of a motor. The nozzle tubes 66, 67, 68, 61 and 62 are supplied with water via pipes disposed outside the side wall of the washing chamber as will be seen in FIG. 6.

The outlet of a circulating pump 69 is connected to a pipe 70 which, in turn, is connected, on the one hand, via a valve 71 to a pipe 76 leading to the nozzle tube 62 and, on the other hand, by a pipe 72 to a valve 73. Valve 73, in its turn, is connected to a feed pipe 74 leading to nozzle tube 61 as well as to a feed pipe 75 leading to nozzle tubes 66, 67 and 68.

The valve 73 is operable by hand with a Bowdon wire 79, the tube 79b of which is fixed on the one hand to the frame of the housing 51 and on the other hand to a flange 79a which is fixed, in its turn, to the wall 77 of the washing chamber. The wire 790 in tube 79b carries at its one end the pull button 79d while its other end is connected to the lever 81 tiltably mounted on pivot axis 80. One arm of this lever is linked to the valve rod 73a of the valve 73. The other arm is so arranged that it is engageable with switch pin 82c of a switch 82.

Switch 82 has two terminals 82a and 82b which are connected to a small control lamp 84 disposed on the housing frame and provided with terminals 840 and 84b.

The valve 71 is operable electrically via a lever 86 having one end pivoted on an axis 85 on the housing and the other end linked to the valve rod 710 of the valve 71. Between the two ends, the lever 86 has a bore 87 in which the armature 88a of a solenoid 88, provided with terminals 88b and 88c, is fixed. One endof a spring 89 is firmly fixed in the bore in lever 86, while the other end of the spring is fixed to the housing.

To the front plate 51a of the housing 51 is attached a time switch 90 which has a control knob 90a. A control lamp 91, likewise disposed on the front plate 51a, serves to indicate when the machine is switched on. A second control lamp 92 serves to indicate whether the heating means controlled by a thermostat is switched on. At the top of the door frame, there is disposed a micro switch 93, provided with two terminals 93a and 93b, which serve to permit operation of the machine only when the door is closed and, upon opening the door, the circulating pump is switched off.

If now, after the insertion of the dishes to be washed, the program knob 90a is rotated to a stopped position, then the machine begins to work according to a predetermined program. At the same time, the control lamp 91 lights up.

During the washing cycle with the valves positioned as shown in FIG. 6 circulating pump 69 supplies pipes 74, 75 and 76 with water. Thirty seconds before termination of the washing procedure, the valve 71 is closed by the armature 88a moving downwardly against the force of the spring 89 so that the articles being washed are sprayed with water only from above.

If it is now desired to clean pans, one pulls on the knob 79d, whereby the Bowdon wire 79 closes the valve 73 and, consequently, the water supplied by the pump 69 only flows to pipe 76. At the same time, by means of the lever 81, the switch 82 is operated so that the control lamp 84 lights up.

Here, also, 30 seconds before termination of the washing procedure, the valve 71 is closed. As now all feed pipes are closed, damaging of parts of the machine is avoided by making valves 71 and 73 so they do not completely close.

Modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a washing machine: a washing chamber having top, bottom and side and front and back walls, an opening in the front wall and a substantially rectangular hinged door for closing said opening, a circulating pump disposed behind the back wall of the machine, a nozzle pipe means including at least two nozzle pipes in said washing chamber parallel to each other and pivotal about the respective longitudinal axes thereof, said nozzle pipe means having radially directed nozzles therein, conduit means connecting the nozzle pipes with the discharge side of said pump for supplying said nozzles with fluid under pressure, drive means for oscillatingsaid pipes on their respective axes to cause the jets from said nozzles to sweep said washing chamber, and control valves interposed in the conduit means between said pump and said nozzle pipes, and means for actuating said control valves.

2. A washing machine according to claim 1 in which the drive means includes levers connected to said pipes, a motor driven crank arm, and link means connecting said levers to said motor driven crank arm.

3. A washing machine according to claim 1, in which said nozzle pipe means extend transversely in said washing chamber and parallel to each other and are distributed in said chamber in the vertical direction thereof and in the front to back direction thereof, said nozzle pipe means comprising a group of stationary nozzle pipes near the top of said chamber, an oscillatable first nozzle pipe about midway the heighth of the washing chamber and an oscillatable second nozzle pipe in the region of the bottom of said chamber, said first and second nozzle pipes being oscillatable about the longitudinal axes thereof, first valve means connecting the stationary nozzle pipes and said first nozzle pipe to said circulating pump, and second valve means connecting said second nozzle pipe to said circulating pump.

4. A washing machine according to claim 3 which includes independent actuating means for said first and second valve means.

5. A washing machine according to claim 3 in which said first valve means is manually operable.

6. A washing machine according to claim 4 in which said second valve means is electrically operable, and control means controlling the overall washing cycle of said washing machine and operable for actuating said second valve means into closed position before interrupting the supply of energy to said circulating pump.

7. A washing machine according to claim 3, in which said valve means are so constructed that in closed position thereof a predetermined amount of water can pass therethrough thereby preventing shocks when the valves close. 

1. In a washing machine: a washing chamber having top, bottom and side and front and back walls, an opening in the front wall and a substantially rectangular hinged door for closing said opening, a circulating pump disposed behind the back wall of the machine, a nozzle pipe means including at least two nozzle pipes in said washing chamber parallel to each other and pivotal about the respective longitudinal axes thereof, said nozzle pipe means having radially directed nozzles therein, conduit means connecting the nozzle pipes with the discharge side of said pump for supplying said nozzles with fluid under pressure, drive means for oscillating said pipes on their respective axes to cause the jets from said nozzles to sweep said washing chamber, and control valves interposed in the conduit means between said pump and said nozzle pipes, and means for actuating said control valves.
 1. In a washing machine: a washing chamber having top, bottom and side and front and back walls, an opening in the front wall and a substantially rectangular hinged door for closing said opening, a circulating pump disposed behind the back wall of the machine, a nozzle pipe means including at least two nozzle pipes in said washing chamber parallel to each other and pivotal about the respective longitudinal axes thereof, said nozzle pipe means having radially directed nozzles therein, conduit means connecting the nozzle pipes with the discharge side of said pump for supplying said nozzles with fluid under pressure, drive means for oscillating said pipes on their respective axes to cause the jets from said nozzles to sweep said washing chamber, and control valves interposed in the conduit means between said pump and said nozzle pipes, and means for actuating said control valves.
 2. A washing machine according to claim 1 in which the drive means includes levers connected to said pipes, a motor driven crank arm, and link means connecting said levers to said motor driven crank arm.
 3. A washing machine according to claim 1, in which said nozzle pipe means extend transversely in said washing chamber and parallel to each other and are distributed in said chamber in the vertical direction thereof and in the front to back direction thereof, said nozzle pipe means comprising a group of stationary nozzle pipes near the top of said chamber, an oscillatable first nozzle pipe aboUt midway the heighth of the washing chamber and an oscillatable second nozzle pipe in the region of the bottom of said chamber, said first and second nozzle pipes being oscillatable about the longitudinal axes thereof, first valve means connecting the stationary nozzle pipes and said first nozzle pipe to said circulating pump, and second valve means connecting said second nozzle pipe to said circulating pump.
 4. A washing machine according to claim 3 which includes independent actuating means for said first and second valve means.
 5. A washing machine according to claim 3 in which said first valve means is manually operable.
 6. A washing machine according to claim 4 in which said second valve means is electrically operable, and control means controlling the overall washing cycle of said washing machine and operable for actuating said second valve means into closed position before interrupting the supply of energy to said circulating pump. 